VOA标准英语2014--Harlem Non-Profit Serves African Diaspora and Homeland

 

Harlem Non-Profit Serves African Diaspora and Homeland 

NEW YORK — New York City is home to hundreds of ethnic¹ and immigrant groups from around the world, including Africans. But until recently, the African diaspora lacked a center dedicated² to their needs, especially regarding HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling and treatment.

Now, the Harlem-based African Services Committee offers testing and referral services for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and various sexually transmitted diseases, along with other immigrant support services specifically geared to New York's African community. 

More than 12,000 clients took advantage of the non-profit organization's free or low cost services last year.

The group was founded by Ethiopian refugee Asfaha Hadera in 1981, when there were no services geared to New York’s African diaspora.

“It was a response to their need,” he said. “As a result, this has become the place where they come and share their experiences.” 

ASC now offers HIV outreach, education and testing. The program began during the 1980s in response to the AIDS epidemic³.

Often still a taboo⁴

HIV/AIDS remains⁵ a taboo topic in many parts of Africa, where contracting the virus is often considered shameful⁶. That attitude persists among many African immigrants in New York, said Mulusew Bekele, ASC's programs operations director. 

“Until they get comfortable with the services we have, they tend to in a sense self-stigmatize until I sit down and explain to them that we are here to serve, and that the services are confidential,” he said.

Bekele said that helping⁷ immigrants who are fearful or sick can be often be taxing. “But the most gratifying part is seeing someone come in, thin as a rail and see them over time flourish, gain weight, be confident and see them smile,” he said.

Help for Harlem, then the homeland

In 2003, Asfaha Hadera secured a small grant to take African Services Committee to Ethiopia. He opened a clinic in the capital's main open-air market. The facility is staffed by locals but run according to U.S. best practices, including transparency, accountability, and quality service.

“All services [are] in one [place] so that the poor don’t have to hustle⁸ from one corner to another. Reproductive health is there. Family planning is there. Nutrition is there. Counseling and testing is there, and also treatment,” he said.

ASC Program Director in Ethiopia Hana Woldegabriel said her group reaches out directly to clients, most of whom are poor.

"Most them live on the street and most of them are HIV positive… Also, they are kids, HIV positive kids, who have no one. They don’t have a father to support them,” she said.

‘Save a life and save a world’

Today, ASC runs fully⁹ equipped clinics in five regions of Ethiopia. Hadera said the clinics are not only a blessing¹⁰ for residents of rural areas where health care is sparse¹¹, but also for himself and ASC’s growing staff.

 

“I thought that one person might not make a difference, but the fact that, if you [are] born to it, if you [are] dedicated, if you are focused, if you are responsible, if you manage resources effectively, it comes [down] to the Jewish principle that, ‘if you save one life, you are saving the world.’”

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

3 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

4 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

11 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。